"The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women From The Earliest
Times to 2004", edited by Elizabeth Ewan, Sue Innes, Sian Reynolds and Rose
Pipes is an essential work of reference for anone with any interest at all in
Scottish history or society. It would be easy to suppose from a reading of most
accounts of our history that it was an essentially male story, with the female
half of the population (if they feature at all) featuring in supporting roles
as wives of important men or mothers of the next generation of history makers.
The exception, perhaps, is Mary Queen of Scots, though she is best known
primarily because she let her personal life get in the way of her better
judgement and public duty, thus arguably helping confirm the tired old
stereotype that males make better history.

The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women does a great deal to
redress this traditional imbalance in the perception of our history. The book
includes biographical entries on 830 women produced by 230 professional and
amateur historians and helps shed light on the lives and experiences of women
from every part of Scottish society, as well as from the worldwide Scottish
diaspora. The women covered range from queens, consorts and noble via others
who were renowned in their fields to unexpected or previously unknown
individuals who made important contributions or have signficant or simply
interesting stories to tell.

Although the work underpinning the book has been rigorous and
academic, the style of presentation is approachable and intended for a general
readership. Each entry is a highly readable narrative. As a result, though you
might start by looking up particular individuals, you soon find yourself being
drawn into the wealth of fascinating personal stories on offer in this
excellent and thorougly enjoyable work.